Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Robinson.
Hi Paul, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember. Even during university at UCLA, I was already working as a photographer. I took six months of my junior year off and moved to Paris to shoot fashion. When I returned, I was approached to do the same in Los Angeles. I explored this for a while but found myself leaning further and further into celebrity lifestyle portraits and editorial (Think Details, Interview, Detour, etc.). During this period, I was also exploring the world of film, while my art career became more “fine art” and less commercial. I wrote a few features wrote and directed several short films, music videos, and commercials, but my heart was definitely rooted in fine art. My first exhibition was in Los Angeles, and my second in New York a few months later. Both were straight photography. This was the beginning of my career as an exhibited artist. Absolut sponsored my New York show and asked me to do an “Absolut Robinson” ad. This was during the period where their campaign revolved around celebrating artists, so this was a very important part of my budding art career.
As I was working on my next series of art, I was still directing, and less than a year after my first exhibition, I wrote, directed, and produced the bulk of the celebrity “Rock The Vote” campaign. After three more exhibitions in Los Angeles and two more in New York, I was asked to show in London. From there, my career as an artist really took off. I have since had several exhibitions in London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New York, Beirut, Berlin, Paris, and Florence. Over the years, my art has become increasingly more abstract and mixed media, with photography being only a layer in the final piece. I have expanded into the interior realm as well with a wallpaper line called “PAULpaper”, a rug collection I designed for “The Rug Company”, and a furniture line. I’ve never been able to sit still as an artist. I want to try everything, and the more I explore, the more I find ways to incorporate them in whatever I am creating. Everything I do has a based of everything I’ve tried in the past. Today, I feel my art is a culmination of all those things.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely has not always been a smooth road and continues to be challenging even after many levels of success. To be a successful artist, I feel you have to have unbreakable resilience and determination. You have to know for sure that this is your path and learn to have no fear as an artist, no fear to create what defines you as an artist, no fear to create what is in your heart. I remind myself of this almost daily.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I work in several different fields in the arts. I would say I’m most know for my layering and the unique processes that I have created to implement that layering. In the beginning of my career I was obsessed with the photographer, Helmut Newton. In fact, his art was what made me want to be a photographer in the first place. I was also obsessed with the “Absolute Artist” campaign. When I saw the film “The Eyes of Laura Mars”, in which Helmut Newton’s photographs were used as the photographs of the actress in the film, it inspired me to no end. The exhibition she had in New York in the film was everything I wanted. My first show in New York checked all three of those boxes. The New York press called me the “The Helmut Newton of the new brat pack”, Absolut asked me to do an Absolut Robinson ad, and I had a packed exhibition. That all made my very proud, but I knew I couldn’t rest on those accomplishments. I knew I had to keep growing. Since then, there have been many milestones in my career, but I guess what I am most proud of is having the confidence to call myself an artist and to continue to be an artist.
What matters most to you?
Continuing to grow and thrive as an artist and being able to continue to create and have the ability to share my creations with as many people as possible is very important to me. It’s what I enjoy the most in my career.
Contact Info:
- Website: paulrobinsonart.com paulpaper.net
- Instagram: @probinsonart
